PROJECT GOAL MPE

Small-Scale Mining (MPE) represents the largest share of mining operations in Brazil. Despite its importance in terms of the number of people employed per unit of product and production volume of specific minerals, the official statistics available on the sector are incomplete, partially outdated and dispersed in different institutions in the Brazilian administrative scenario.

In order to obtain an updated overview of MPE in Brazil and understand socioeconomic dynamics and offer solutions for the socio-environmental impact generated, the META MPE Project “Socioeconomic and Environmental Diagnosis of Small-Scale Mining in Brazil” was carried out (Contract 001/2016 SEDP/ SE/MME), a consortium formed by the companies Projekt-Consult and RCS Global was created, which had the support of NAP.Mineração/USP.

In the context of the Project design, a field research was carried out which included technical visits to a significant sample of  MPE operations (446 mines) in the metallic, non-metallic minerals, diamond and other gems segments, and an anthropological study, with 354 interviews , covering five different contexts that represent the group of substances analyzed, namely: i) metallic substances: gold (Tapajós region, in Pará, and Reserva Garimpeira de Vale do Peixoto, in Mato Grosso); ii) non-metallic substances: clay (Ceramic Pole of Santa Gertrudes, in São Paulo) and mineral aggregates for civil construction – sand (Metropolitan Region of Recife, in Pernambuco); and iii) gems (Teófilo Otoni region and Jequitinhonha and Mucuri valleys, northeast of Minas Gerais).

The diagnosis was organized into 8 products:

Product 1 – Preliminary identification of data sources and bibliographic and documental survey
Product 2 – Small-Scale Mining Legal-Institutional Report
Product 3 – Socioeconomic and Environmental Diagnosis of Small-Scale Mining in Brazil (MPE)
Product 4 – Small-Scale Mining Inventory Report for Metallic Minerals
Product 5 – Small-Scale Gem Mining Inventory Report
Product 6 – Small-Scale Mining Inventory Report for Non-Metallic Minerals
Product 7 – According to Dispatches of the Department of Geology, Mining and Mineral Transformation – SGM, of June 14, 2017, this product will not be disclosed until its analysis and classification by the competent authority, as it is a Georeferenced Database with individualized information about small-scale mining activity in Brazil
Product 8 – Final Report